Alan Mannus: Former Northern Ireland goalkeeper to retire at 41

Alan Mannus (left) was one of three goalkeepers in Northern Ireland's Euro 2016 squad with Michael McGovern (centre) and Roy Carroll (right)

Former Northern Ireland goalkeeper Alan Mannus has announced he will retire after Shamrock Rovers' final game of the season on Friday.

Mannus, 41, won nine Northern Ireland caps between 2004 and 2016.

Mannus started his career with Linfield and had two stints at Rovers either side of seven years with St Johnstone in Scotland.

"No matter when I'll retire I know I'll regret it," Mannus told Shamrock Rovers TV.

Mannus, who has 128 clean sheets in 285 appearances, has been integral as Rovers clinched their fourth League of Ireland Premier Division title in a row.

He moved to Tallaght Stadium in 2009 after nine trophy-laden seasons with Linfield before securing a move to the SPL with St Johnstone, where he won the Scottish Cup in 2013-14.

Mannus returned to Dublin in 2020 and has helped Rovers to four league titles in a row and the FAI Cup in 2019. He will play his final game at home to Sligo Rovers on Friday.

He was handed his Northern Ireland debut in 2004 against Trinidad and Tobago and was part of Michael O'Neill's squad for the Euro 2016 finals in France.

"It was always the intention of retiring this year. I was going to do it last year but it went really well for me and I was feeling good," Mannus added.

"This year has been a bit more difficult and I had a lot of other things going on. Obviously I had an injury with my fingers, which has affected things quite a lot.

"Training with my finger has been hard and I have been getting it injected before games, which isn't sustainable do for another year.

"I was going to do it regardless, but that has made it a bit easier. I'll miss a lot of things but it has to happen to some point."